Dave Hughes' ruthless stab at Kyle Sandilands

Dave Hughes has taken a verbal flamethrower to Kyle Sandilands and his less-than-rockstar status in the Melbourne radio market, leaving viewer and commentators stunned.

The popular TV and radio star, comedian and professional truth-bomber recently sat down with the Herald Sun and, in between deep sighs of relief at no longer being beholden to radio ratings, delivered some choice words about the industry, his axed show and, of course, his long-time Sydney rival, Sandliands.

Hughesy, whose breakfast show Hughesy, Ed & Erin was unceremoniously booted off the airwaves last year, made it clear that he’s not losing any sleep over the fate of The Kyle and Jackie O Show’s Melbourne expansion woes.

“And now I think that we’re finding that out. It’s just habits. You can be a rock star in one city and the other city cannot give a flying f**k about you because they didn’t have the habit for you,” Hughes explained.

And if you were wondering whether Hughesy might have a shred of sympathy for Sandilands, let’s clear that up right now: "I don’t really have any empathy because Kyle doesn’t have any empathy for anyone. If he’s on air he’ll just slag everyone off, including me. So I’ve got no empathy at all. I couldn’t care less to be honest.”

In fact, Hughesy’s concern seems to be exclusively reserved for the shareholders, because, as he so eloquently put it: “They are the ones who are bloody bleeding.”

Sandilands, of course, had confidently predicted that he and Jackie O would dominate Melbourne radio by the end of 2024. That prediction aged about as well as milk left out in the sun, as the final ratings for last year told a harsh truth: The Kyle and Jackie O Show finished in sixth place, with a 5% market share – trailing far behind Jase and Lauren from Nova, who soared with an 11.5% share. To put it in perspective, Kyle and Jackie O lost 24,000 listeners in Melbourne. That’s a lot of people collectively saying, “Yeah, nah.”

Of course, in their homeland of Sydney, the duo remains a powerhouse, finishing the year with a strong 13.5% audience share. But in Melbourne? It’s a different story – a story that Hughesy is gleefully watching unfold, popcorn in hand.

Beyond the Kyle-bashing, Hughesy also took a swing at the entire radio ratings system, calling it out as nothing more than an elaborate magic trick.

“When the ratings work for you, it’s like ‘this is a great system’ and when they don’t you say ‘this system is broken,’” he quipped. “It’s all smoke and mirrors, basically.”

And with that, Hughesy rides off into the sunset, free from the shackles of radio ratings, leaving Kyle Sandilands to wrestle with his Melbourne flop. One thing’s for sure – if Hughesy ever returns to radio, we know who won’t be getting a sympathy card.